Abstract
The development of high-efficiency municipal waste-fired power plants, although not yet developed for practical use because of the technical difficulties involved, has recently come to be considered quite important, reflecting strong public demand for conservation of the global environment and preservation of energy resources. Development of such plants is now being actively promoted in various national projects in Japan.
This paper first reviews the current status and technical issues concerning (a) municipal waste disposal plants and (b) municipal waste-fired power plants in Japan. Then each of the three approaches that are currently being proposed and vigorously promoted as national projects in Japan for realizing high-efficiency municipal waste-fired power plants is discussed.
Although a high percentage of the municipal waste in Japan is incinerated, only a relatively small amount of electricity is generated at present. The paper shows that increasing the proportion of waste used to provide electricity could lead to savings of up to 30 per cent of the annual cost consumption in Japan, with accompanying substantial saving in CO2 emissions. The more effective utilization of municipal waste as an energy source would thus have a significant effect on global environmental conservation and in saving primary energy sources.
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